FROM VICTIM
TO S URVIVOR,
FROM SURVIVOR
TO LEADER:
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP
PROGRAMMING AND OPPORTUNITIES
FOR COMMERCIALLY SEXUALLY EXPLOITED
AND TRAFFICKED YOUNG WOMEN & GIRLS
Written by Rachel Lloyd
{ }
Founder/Executive Director
Since we’ve come from not
having the power to do what
we want or say what we want,
they show us that there is a
chance to be a leader at our
Girls Educational and
Mentoring Services, GEMS
Supported by The Ms. Foundation
age, as a youth - Isabella
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{
It’s basically like we fell, and by us falling,
we fell into the life, like a different life, a different
us, and by us coming to GEMS they are picking
us up, slowly but surely, and they’re just making
us like gems, shiny and stronger than ever.
­­­­— Patrice
}
Introduction
>>
GEMS HISTORY AS A
SURVIVOR-LED
ORGANIZATION
In 1997, at the age of 22 I came to the US as a missionary, and a survivor of
commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, to work with adult women exiting
the sex industry. Six months after my arrival, I was selected to attend the First
International Summit of Sexually Exploited Youth in Victoria, BC. With a group
of youth survivors, I co-drafted the Summit’s Declaration and Agenda for Action
which I was later able to co-present at the United Nations and which was ratified by
120 countries. One of the core tenets of the Agenda for Action stated “The voices
and experiences of sexually exploited children and youth must be heard and be
central to the development and implementation of action. We must be empowered
to help ourselves”. Inspired by the youth summit and building upon this core
philosophy of survivor leadership, I founded GEMS less than a year later on my
kitchen table.
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Founding an organization at the
age of 23 was challenging. Founding
an organization as a CSEC survivor
was even tougher. I fought hard to
overcome people’s perceptions of me,
the assumptions people made, the
stereotypes that they would often
verbalize. Ten years later, despite the
small steps of progress that we’ve
taken on this issue, many of the same
perceptions, assumptions and stereotypes still remain. Now however, they
are directed at the young women and
girls that we serve at GEMS.
Stigmatized by their histories of
sexual exploitation, gender, race, age
and class, sexually exploited young
women are rarely viewed as potential
or current leaders and must fight multiple layers of prejudice to be viewed
out of the ‘box’ of deeply ingrained
stereotypes. In urban centers like New
York, commercially sexually exploited
youth are frequently girls and young
women of color from low income
communities, who are perceived as
inherently ‘loose’, unredeemable and
hopeless. These young women are
often not just absent from public debate, but actively denigrated and seen
as complicit in their abuse.
>>
Challenges
to youth
Leadership
within the field
In recent years however, we’ve begun
to see a small but growing movement
that addresses these girls and young
women as victims of commercial
sexual exploitation and domestic
trafficking. Yet even within the field,
there is frequently a sense of CSEC
victims as perpetual victims. There is
often language used in reference to
‘rescuing victims’ from commercial
sexual exploitation and trafficking. While in many cases this
has a very real and literal meaning, when applied to ongoing programming, it does not allow for the growth and
ultimate empowerment of sexually exploited young women
and girls.
One program that specializes in serving CSEC victims
steadfastly refuses to employ adult survivors as it believes
that they will never really be ‘ready’ to support others. A
therapist who has worked with CSEC victims recently told
me that she believed that they were irreparably damaged.
These attitudes are only marginally different than the message that sexually exploited/trafficked girls have heard from
their pimps, their buyers, their communities and society at
large: ‘Once a ho, always a ho,’ and ‘You can’t turn a ho into
a housewife.’
It is sadly the sense of being without real hope, without a sense of possibility, without a belief in their inherent
ability to grow and change that keeps so many girls and
young women trapped in the commercial sex industry. If
there is an underlying belief that, even out of ‘the life’ that
survivors are destined to be limited by their past experiences, it is perhaps not surprising that many girls and young
women do not engage in programming that confines them
to permanent victim-hood.
Without dismissing the reality, enormity and severity
of the trauma that commercially sexually exploited/domestically trafficked girls and young women experience, it is vital
for the field to begin to address not only the myriad practical, physical and psychological needs but to also address the
need for positive youth development programming, leadership development and the creation of authentic leadership
opportunities for girls and young women as they move from
victim to survivor.
Survivor leadership, the empowerment of commercially sexually exploited girls and young women and youth-led
advocacy has been at the heart of GEMS since its inception,
perhaps primarily based in the early years on my own experiences as a survivor leader, but in later years based on the
abundance of research on strengths-based youth development and leadership development for youth that exists and
that has been proven to be effective. Incorporating what
we inherently believed about the capacity and potential of
young women and girls to be powerful leaders in their own
lives and in society as a whole within a broader framework
of youth leadership programming has always been an integral component of GEMS.
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>>
GEMS
leadership
programming and
accomplishments
Today, GEMS is the largest provider of
victims of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking in the
country, serving almost 250 girls ages
12 – 21 last year through intensive
services including residential services,
case management, support groups,
work readiness and youth leadership
programming and over 1500 youth
and adults through outreach and public education. In a trauma-informed
model, GEMS focuses on developing
survivors as leaders and authorities
in their own lives, in the organization
and in the movement to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Over the last 9 years, GEMS
members have spoken at national
and local conferences, testified at
city council hearings and legislative
briefings in Albany and DC, been
featured on radio, television and in
print media about commercial sexual
exploitation advocating for others. In
2003, based on my experiences at the
International Youth Summit in 1998,
GEMS organized the First US Summit
of Sexually Exploited Youth, ‘Breaking
the Silence’. GEMS members developed the theme and content of the
conference, served as summit organizers and facilitators. The culmination
of the four-day summit was advocacy
on Capitol Hill which resulted in the
first legislative youth-led briefing on
commercial sexual exploitation six
months later. Another outcome of the
summit was the first youth-produced
23 minute documentary on commercial sexual exploitation also entitled
‘Breaking the Silence’ which has been
shown to youth and adult audiences
nationally and was featured at the
youth component of the Tribeca Film Festival.
In addition to their advocacy and public awareness
work, GEMS youth leaders provide education and intervention to at-risk girls and have organized and led a girls
conference, written and distributed a monthly newsletter to
detention facilities, developed a youth-produced video on
the issue of commercial sexual exploitation, created a art/
poetry book to educate others about the issue, and created
prevention curricula for youth in facilities. Currently GEMS
employs 9 young women as outreach workers and administrative support, creating and leading workshops for youth
in facilities as well as sustaining systems in the office.
>>
THE WHITE
PAPER
PROJECT
Over the years, we’ve worked hard to develop our
leadership programming to address the evolving needs of
the organization, and more importantly the girls and young
women. As staff, we believed we have learned, and continue
to learn, some lessons about what worked and what didn’t,
what supports were needed and our work had constantly
reaffirmed our belief that youth/survivor leadership programming and opportunities were not just important but
rather critical for true youth development and growth and
for the larger movement against commercial sexual exploitation/domestic trafficking. Instead of producing a report
chronicling our learnings and opinions, we felt it was critical
to hear directly from youth survivors of CSEC and domestic
trafficking about their experiences with leadership at GEMS,
how they viewed these experiences, what they felt they’d
learned and what they needed in order to feel supported in
their development.
As staff, we stepped back from the process, ensured
that the girls and young women maintained a degree of
anonymity through the interview process and worked with
a PhD candidate volunteer who trained young women in
interviewing and supported them through the process. As
a former youth leader and now adult survivor, I compiled
the quotes and qualitative data to ensure that the resulting
document was survivor-led and survivor informed.
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>>
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Participants included 11 commercially
sexual exploited youth who were
all current GEMS members. Three
participants were of Hispanic origin, one was Caucasian, and seven
were African American. Participants
ranged in age from 18 to 24. Four
participants were also members of the
research team, and they conducted
all of the interviews. Research team
members received a one-hour training
in qualitative research, which included
a section on research ethics, including informed consent and the rights
of research subjects, an overview of
qualitative research methods, and tips
on conducting interviews by a GEMS
volunteer who is a doctoral student
with a background in research. Members of the research team interviewed
each other to pilot the instrument
(see appendix A), and were given
feedback by other members of the
research team. Piloting of the instrument resulted in adding three additional questions to the interview
form. Once these first four interviews
were transcribed, the research team
reviewed the transcripts and provided
additional feedback, such as how and
where to get subjects to elaborate
and when to ask for clarification in
responses.
the number of leadership programs participants took part
in and how much they had to say about their experience.
Prior to each interview, informed consent was provided to
each participant, both verbally and in writing, and participants were given the opportunity to ask questions about the
research process or interview itself. Some subjects opted
to skip certain questions, but none of the individuals who
signed up for an interview declined to participate. All procedures were reviewed and approved by GEMS staff.
Data Analysis
Once the interviews were conducted, they were transcribed
by a GEMS volunteer and each subject was given a pseudonym. The transcriptions were then reviewed by three members of the research team and coded for themes. A total of
52 themes emerged, of which, 25 overlapped. The research
team then discussed the overlapping themes, as well as any
theme they felt was important that other members hadn’t
identified. From these, the research team combined themes
that were related, such as “voice” and “expressing myself”
and “communication” or “self-esteem” and “confidence.”
After this discussion, the research team identified ten core
themes: confidence/self-esteem; knowledge; being positive;
expression/communication; making a difference; relationships; moving forward; strength and resilience; open-minded/non-judgmental; and skills.
The results of the interviews were perhaps not surprising to us at GEMS; we have always been convinced of the
incredible strength, intelligence, and leadership qualities of
the young women and girls we serve. However, there was
such a wealth of insight, humor, thoughtful reflection and
honest assessment in the voices of the young women that it
was hard to not just publish an unedited transcript of the interviews and challenging to edit anything out. However, I’ve
done my best to provide a basic framework for the young
women’s voices and have ultimately just let them speak,
clearly and loudly for themselves….
Procedure
Subjects signed up for interviews at
the GEMS office, and were given a
stipend and a movie ticket for their
participation. Interviews ranged from
fifteen to forty minutes depending on
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The Importance
of Youth Leadership
Programming
Overall, the young women felt strongly that youth leadership
programming was a vital part of GEMS programming and
ultimately their own growth and development. The young
women spoke clearly to the feelings of hopelessness and
disempowerment that commercial sexual exploitation
and trafficking creates and the need for strengths-based
programming that supports their leadership potential:
I think they are an integral part cause most girls
when they get here, they’re kind of lost and if you’re
able to commit yourself to coming to something once
a week, and you can actually physically be there and
enjoy it, I think it says a lot and speaks a lot for the
girls who come cause sometimes that might be the
most consistent thing they have going on.
—Emme
Coming out of the life is very like depressing, you
know, you feel like you really don’t have anything.
You feel like what you say is never heard and you’re
feeling all these things at one time. So coming to
GEMS and having a voice and voicing your opinions,
and you’re expressing your feelings and building your
confidence, amongst other things, is recognizing that
every girl shouldn’t go through that experience.
– Hannah
Girls that come to GEMS are usually coming from
feeling like shit day in and day out, like they’re not
important enough to do anything, like all they deserve is just tragedy and stuff, and someone telling
them what to do. And I feel that that is an important
part because it gives them the
opportunity to see something
different and feel something
different, and feel important,
and feel like they can do this on
their own and they don’t need
nobody. Cause if they didn’t
have that GEMS would help but
girls would still feel like ‘alright
you’re trying to help me but I
still feel like shit and I’m going
back cause this is all I know and
this is all I deserve.’ Youth leadership helped girls realize that
there is more than somebody
telling them what to do and
that they don’t have to settle
for that and that they can do it
on their own.
—Isabella
My experience in youth leadership was, it was something
new, something positive. It was
something that I wasn’t really
used to because it was so much
empowerment, it was all female,
and you know, I had a voice, and
I had skills that I never thought
I had.
—Alison
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>>
Graduating from the 20week Youth Leadership
Program gave girls a strong
sense of accomplishment and pride:
When I finished youth
leadership, yeah, I felt like
a leader cause I felt like I
finally finished something.
And being that that was
the first thing I finished,
I just felt really proud,
like I just felt good. I felt
really good to know that I
finished something and I
didn’t need to go out and
sell my body for anything.
I did something I wanted
to do rather than doing
something someone told
me to do.
—Yvette
Just because its like a real
big deal to graduate from
youth leadership because
they put you through a
lot to make it that far, so
once you do it says a lot to
other girls, it gives them
something to strive for.
– Emme
>>
However, the young women
contextualized youth leadership not only as a weekly
group but as consistent messaging
that they received throughout all their
services and programming.
self as, and try to just put you up to a higher
standard, to let you know that you could do it,
despite everything that’s going on.
—Patrice
They give us the message that girls is worth
more than what they’re going through. There’s
no price on a female, they have their whole lives
ahead of them to get you know a new path, and
make a new path for themselves.
—Indira
Being around positivity, empowerment, it kind
of just stuck with me to always think that
of myself, that I’m worthy. So that’s what I
learned.
—Alison
>>
What was clear from the interviews, and from the
themes that they decided upon was that in order
for specific youth leadership programming to be
effective, survivors not only needed consistent messaging
about their potential, their value and their worth but a safe,
non-judgmental place within which to grow, the opportunity
to gain knowledge and skills, particularly in building healthy
relationships and learning effective communication skills.
The young women talked at length about the direct relationship between these supports and their increased sense of
self-worth and confidence, a vital component of their healing and recovery. Once they gained confidence, the young
women felt strongly about ‘giving back’ and supporting and
educating others and they needed concrete opportunities
within which to explore and practice their leadership skills.
These opportunities opened up additional possibilities to
them and they began to see themselves truly moving forward with healthy and productive futures.
To love yourself, to think
more of yourself, to see
yourself as more valuable
than what you see your-
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What Survivors Need to Grow:
the transition from victim to
survivor, survivor to leader
>>
survivors need
the opportunity to grow and
learn in a supportive,
non-judgmental space
CSEC survivors are accustomed to be
being judged and stigmatized by their
families, communities, institutions,
traditional service providers, and
society at large. All youth need a
space in which they feel accepted
and supported as they are, however
for CSEC survivors their sense of
shame and unworthiness due to their
victimization is so strong, that a truly
non-judgmental environment in the
first critical step in supporting them
in their transitions. The concept of
feeling valued and accepted came
up over and over again in the young
women’s interviews:
This is just a way where
nobody judges you, where
everybody comes together
and tries to hear each
other and people aren’t
pointing at you going “ew,
ew, ew,” at least this way
you can let your feelings
out and express yourself
in a safe environment.
—Yvette
I mean this is place to be
yourself at. And if you
can’t be yourself anywhere else, when you come
here you know you can be yourself because
nobody judges you. —Isabella
They allow you to be yourself, they tell you to
be yourself.
—Simone
It was important for the girls to know that wherever
they were at in their lives and recovery, they would
still be supported:
I’ve always been welcomed, you know, even if I
went back into the life and people knew about
it, I’m still accepted the same way. But I’m in
the life anymore and I haven’t been, but it’s just
something that people make judgments about
and at GEMS there is no judgment in the air,
and also, it’s just a friendly space. People come
to GEMS and hang out.
—Alison
Cause if I wasn’t comfortable anywhere else,
I would be comfortable at GEMS cause nobody does judge you or look down on you for
what you done in the past or what you might
continue to do. There’s like no judgment here
whatsoever.
—Hannah
GEMS is just that type of program that you
could leave for a long time and they’ll still welcome you back with open arms,
—Yvette
I would say that I fell, I got back up, I fell, I got
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back up, I fell I got back
up, I’m still growing, I’m
not going to say my experience is done at GEMS, I’ll
still have a lot to learn, I’m
a baby at GEMS, I’m like
a toddler, I went from a
newborn to a toddler.
—Patrice
It was also important for girls to
be around other survivors and
experience peer support:
It was comfortable because I was around girls
that was in the life also so
I didn’t feel uncomfortable,
and I mean it was just mad
cool because like I didn’t
feel funny, I didn’t feel like
I was around a bunch of
square chicks.
—Anna
We’re all different, but like
we all have the same situation so we all can relate
to each other and all be
able to comfort each other.
—Isabella
Seeing their peers grow and succeed
was cited by several young women as
an inspirational factor that supported
them in their own development:
I think of the groups and
the fact that you know, I
seen people going through
the same experience I’ve
gone through and they
just have brushed it off
and keep going, and that
also made me want to
keep going.
—Jessica
You just see so many young females coming
here, getting past their past experiences and
moving forward and doing just great things.
—Yvette
The opportunity to have a space where they could relax
and be themselves without fear of judgment or shame was
a critical factor for the young women’s engagement and
participation in programming. Overall, it was clear from the
interviews that the young women felt loved, cared for and
supported at GEMS:
Like some people know what proper love and
care is, and I know because of GEMS, and I get
that every single time I come here.
—Holly
Recognizing that progress and recovery from trauma is
rarely linear enabled girls to participate in programming
regardless of where they were at in their journeys. In fact,
the ability to come to a safe place when they were still being
commercially sexually exploited was of critical importance
to the girls interviewed. As a survivor-led program, girls and
young women knew that they had a safe place without any
stigma, yet it was also important to note that all staff were
seen as warm and welcoming:
Yeah because in the back of my mind I always
think about, you know, the different kinds of
qualities that all the different female staff have
at GEMS. I take a little out of everybody.
—Alison
The staff are so welcoming and when you come
in they hug you and you know this is a positive
environment and you can say whatever you like
—Jessica
>>
Survivors need the
opportunity to develop
knowledge & skills
Through youth leadership programming, girls were
educated about the issue of commercial sexual exploitation
and trafficking through a psycho-educational group. They
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learned to reframe their experiences
from ‘being a prostitute’ to being
‘commercially sexually exploited/
trafficked” and learned that the
concept of ‘making a choice’ was
inaccurate based on their age, their
circumstances and the fact that
they had been recruited, coerced,
bought and sold by adult men. They
explored how the media perpetuates
sexual exploitation, how race, class
and gender impact them, and how
the larger political systems and
institutions address the issue.
Understanding CSEC in a broader
context, and having the language
and information to reframe their
experiences empowered the girls to
recognize their victimization and to
process it in a global socio-political
context. This education began to
remove the sense of shame that they
carried so heavily. Realizing that the
blame and responsibility did not lie
on them freed them to think critically
about their experiences and work on
their healing and recovery:
I learned that there was a
lot of things that I didn’t
know about before going
there. They opened my
eyes to a lot of issues,
racism a bunch of things
that we talked about were
very educational.
—Emme
in our society, the importance of it, the scale
of it…you’ll see how it changes how you think
as a person, you know, how it changes how you
talk, and it helps you with your public speaking.
— Patrice
The message that GEMS gave us is basically
that we’re worth more, that we deserve more,
that we can get more, that sexual exploitation
is wrong you know. —Simone
I got to see how like the world really portrays
women and the struggle that sometimes you
have to through just to be who you really are.
Because of youth leadership it opened my mind
up to want to learn more about some women’s
rights and other things so I just feel like I’m
totally more educated about certain stuff now.
And personally I was able to see that love
shouldn’t come from a man, it should come
from within. —Holly
Because in society, because we’ve been
sexually exploited they see us as why we did
it, you’re a whore, you’re a stripper, and the
place I’ve gotten to is where we’re actually
victims and the way I behaved it was a reaction
towards the people, it was a reaction towards
the way people treated me. It wasn’t like oh I
wanted to do it or I was born to be a whore, it
was a reaction. —Jessica
Youth leadership programming empowered girls to feel
that they could take action against commercial sexual
exploitation:
Now when I see certain
things in the media, I like
recognize what it really is.
—Holly
I can stand up and speak my mind and
protest about sexual exploitation and what it’s
doing to the young girls and our society and
what effect media, men and public officers of
society also have to do with it. —Patrice
You’ll see how the media
and everyone else in the
world view sexual exploitation, like where it’s at
Once you go to youth leadership and
you gain some self-esteem and you learn how
to be a leader you can actually step back and
say “that was wrong, and I wasn’t at fault,
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it wasn’t my fault and
you able to go against it,
you’re able to go against it
and talk to people and put
the word out.
— Isabella
Not only did this new framework of
understanding CSEC equip survivors
to educate people in a formal sense,
it also provided them with the tools
to be able to share their knowledge
with others in their lives and not feel
ashamed of their victimization:
Not being embarrassed
talking about the issue,
and having more knowledge about the issue and
myself, and being able to
educate people about the
issue and about the things
that I learned.
–Anna
There’s a lot of
other girls that are going
through it, that you’re
not the only girl by yourself, and you could share
that information with
people The more you learn
about it, even though
you’ve experienced it,
you learn more information from other girls and
other people, staff and
stuff. And you could talk
to other people at school
and parents, and it’s
just easier to describe it
because you have a better
idea of what’s going on
with it.- Emme
Youth leadership group also trained
the girls in practical skills such as
group facilitation, public speaking and
organizing to communicate what they’d learned:
Public speaking, how to begin a group and how to start
talking about a topic, not just coming at people and talking
and having them not be interested, how to get people
interested and having clear facts, talking clearly, patience….
When you just coming into GEMS and you’re
a CSEC [victim] you don’t really know how to
speak up for yourself, you think you shouldn’t,
that you’re not supposed to, that you don’t
have a right to. After going through the whole
youth leadership and all the other groups, and
just going through the whole process of GEMS,
at the end, when you finally got all your skills
where you are a CSEC survivor, you speak up
for yourself, you talk clearly, because you know
the right words to use, you know the right tone
to use, and if ever you do have to speak in front
of somebody that’s important, you’ll know the
right words to use, you’ll know how to conduct
yourself. And it teaches you how to speak to
other girls who have been in the same situation
you’ve been in.
—Patrice
It helped me learn how to take control over my
own life again, how to look at people and present things, how to talk to people and how to
carry myself when I go to these facilities and
take care of groups and things.
—Yvette
Learning to be assertive, learning good communication skills and facilitating groups, that’s
what I learned
—Anna
Probably speech cause they’re real big on
teaching you how to talk publicly and that’s
something that I need a lot of work on. Because lets say you want to go to school or get
a job, some of those things that you practice
can be used outside of GEMS or in regular life.
—Emme
I learned how to run a group through GEMS;
I learned how to take responsibility, even if it
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wasn’t me who did something. I also learned how
to work as a team. I also
learned to work with
people I don’t get along
with. And I also learned
self-control.
— Patrice
All of the young women felt
strongly that they’d learned
good communication skills which
empowered them to speak up for
themselves and developing a great
ability to fully express themselves.
For girls and young women who’ve
been taught to stay silent and have
doubted the power of their own voice,
this emerged from the interviews as
a critical skill for their growth and
progress:
Before I used to be a very
passive person, and I
think I get that because
when I was in the life I
wasn’t allowed to have an
opinion, so like I wasn’t
like really up on like defending myself and things
like that. But then I went
to youth leadership, and
you know, there’s a difference between being aggressive and being able to
express yourself, do what
you gotta do, and you say
it and they hear it, you
feel me?
—Anna
I feel is very important,
especially for a person
who came out of the life
for the simple fact that I
was so traumatized that I
couldn’t tell the different
between reality and the
life. Like I couldn’t tell the difference between
when a person was trying to talk to me and be
nice, and when a person was just trying to get
something out of me, I couldn’t tell the difference so I would have my guard up all the time.
And going through youth leadership I learned
how to cope with those feelings and use them
to my advantage. If I felt offended in a way I
would be able to speak my mind instead of just
bowing my head down not looking at the person
and just walking away scared or something.
—Yvette
I learned how to voice my opinions in a correct
manner, to respect others even when I don’t
agree with them, how to do a presentation, how
to work with others, a lot of important stuff.
A lot of times, especially when you’re coming
from that life, you don’t know, you don’t want
to depend on other people, so it’s important
that you know how to work with others because
for a long time, like to this day, I really don’t
like working with other people, but I can do it.
—Holly
GEMS is big on helping people learn to communicate efficiently.
—Emme
Young women also spoke of learning to apply their advocacy
skills to advocating for themselves in various systems:
I just learned how to take steps to either speak
to a supervisor speak to a manager, speak to
a higher person above and if that doesn’t work
go someplace else. And I feel that that’s helped
me in my own life because you know I am an
ACS case since I was 9, and I stay on my social
workers like white on rice, I follow them to the
agencies, I find out how long is their visits for
at certain places, I make them come to my
house if I can’t go to the agency. I just stay on
top of them because I know my rights as a, you
know, young girl in ACS.
—Yvette
The girls also felt that GEMS programming, particularly
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supported them in developing
healthier relationships, with family
members, with intimate relationships,
with their peers and co-workers:
When I’m in school or even
when I’m in relationships,
like relationships meaning my home relationships
and guys I date. I recognize that even though I
was born a girl, the stereotypical role was placed
on me and I don’t have to
embrace it, like that’s not
me. I can do anything that
I want to do, I’m not going
to dress the way you want
me to dress, I’m not going
to do all that, like it just
stops because of GEMS.
—Holly
When me and them [other
members] didn’t get along,
I used a lot of GEMS skills
so we wouldn’t have an
altercation, and we didn’t.
I remember that I was
in the office and part
of working at GEMS is
teaching, … I also learned
that when you work with
people, you’re not always
going to like them but if
you want to get the job
done and be successful,
you have to work with
them. It’s got to be a team
effort, and also there’s no
“I” in team.
—Patrice
I definitely care, like I’m
able to embrace having
girls and women as like
my friends. I was able to
have better relationships
basically, because before I felt like I wasn’t able
to trust girls, like they were so conniving, but
now they’re great.
—Holly
Relationships, I could talk more, I could speak
up for myself. I won’t just let things happen.
—Patrice
[I learned] To, always do what I am supposed to
do, like if they give me a task to finish it, to be
responsible, to love myself, to put myself before
others, guys especially.
—Jessica
>>
Survivors need the opportunity to build their confidence/
self-esteem
A sense of control, volition, and self-confidence are
methodically stripped away by pimps/traffickers who utilize
fear, violence and mind-control techniques to keep girls
loyal and compliant. Building confidence and self-esteem
can be a long process for traumatized girls, yet citing a
variety of strengths-based support services and leadership
development the girls and young women interviewed spoke
of their increased confidence and sense of self-worth:
A CSEC survivor usually doesn’t have, doesn’t’
feel like there’s movement, somebody’s always
putting them down, telling them their ugly or
whatever. So coming out of the life it’s important for them to learn skills because if they can
see that, if they always feel this way they’re
not going to make any changes, they’re going
to think that that’s all they deserve and that’s
all they’re gonna go for. So once they learn good
communication skills, and have confidence….
then they’ll learn and they’ll see a better way of
life and something more for themselves.
—Isabella
I learned that confidence is not just about
walking out the door and holding your head up
high, its about being confident talking to others
about issues you believe in or anything and you
know, being able to speak about it and not feel
any kind of way about it, sorry about it. Saying
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what you gotta say, saying
it and believing in yourself.
—Alison
It helped me like I said get
back into that role of being
able to talk to somebody
face to face. That was
really hard for me after I
came out of the life. That
was the main thing because I was scared to look
at a girl’s face, or a man’s
face. Like it was just weird
for me, I couldn’t do it.
- Yvette
I think a survivor has you
know, already brought
down, beaten to the lowest
point that she probably
can be, and I think that
these skills or qualities
are already in her but it’s
been kind of been deterred. Like you know how
if you put someone down
you can’t grow or progress
or whatever, but I think
youth leadership brings it
out of a survivor– Alison
I learned about myself, I
learned a whole lot about
myself, I learned that I
don’t have to put myself
through this anymore, I
learned that I don’t have
to trade myself for something that you can’t put
no price on. I also learned
how to be a role model for
somebody else. And I also
learned that I’m a better
than that. – Indira
I think it’s positive be-
cause you know what, from learning to assert
myself in youth leadership and stuff, I don’t
take crap from people. Ain’t no man gonna walk
all over me no more cause I will let him know. I
will let him know. – Anna
I’ve learned to be gutsy and not be afraid, to
have confidence, and if you do it once and you
don’t like it you don’t have to do it again, but at
least you did it and you tried. – Alison
I didn’t have no confidence, like no confidence. I
used to think of myself like I was depressed all
the time, like just depressed, like living in the
past. And Rachel’s group and youth leadership
taught me how to just leave the past at the
past and live the future cause I’m here. – Jessica
The young women translated their new-found sense of selfworth into practice; applying their skills and confidence into
‘real-world’ application:
I used to have no self-esteem like at all. Like
I want to look for a job but if the restaurant
looked fancy I wouldn’t walk in there because I
didn’t have self-confidence, and GEMS gave me
a lot of self-confidence. And it also gave me the
position to be a leader and I can help other girls
feel the way that I do now. – Jessica
When I started going to _________{facility
to do outreach}… they didn’t like us coming
there. The staff was just kind of like weirded
out about GEMS so when I started going there
I just presented myself very professional, you
know, if I had any problems I went to a supervisor and I spoke to a supervisor and everything.
And you know, after a while everything just fell
into place, they started realizing I wasn’t going
anywhere and that the girls really liked me, that
I was there to help them and teach them the
right things… – Yvette
You can’t just go and try to fight CSEC when
you still feel bad about yourself because you’re
going to be like’ there’s no point’. Once you’ve
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learned some self-esteem,
you are able to see the
difference of girls who
are commercially sexually exploited than when
you was in there, cause
when you was in there you
don’t see it that way, you
don’t know what it is, you
just don’t know, you’re so
confused. -Hannah
>>
survivors
need the
opportunity
to discover their own
strength & resilience
CSEC survivors are often told,
and generally believe, that their
victimization was a result of being
‘weak’. Discovering their own inherent
strength and recognizing their
resilience even in the face of extreme
trauma was an important part of their
recovery and provided them with
a new self-concept. Programming
needed to be crafted to support them
in learning about themselves in a new
way:
The messages aren’t always direct. We do projects and stuff, they allow
us to do it on our own, and
like, they allow us to build
up our own strengths to
become a leader…. - Isabella
I learned that I could accomplish a lot more than I
expected myself to, and I
learned that I can depend
on people, all the time I
have to depend on myself
and take - Yvette
I’ve basically just learned like, how to just, how
to be me, how to find myself. I found myself in
youth leadership and the different strengths I
had inside me, and how I can use them, basically empowerment and just being a leader and
how much that makes me feel better- Isabella
My experience in fellowship [a paid leadership
training] made me evolve as a person and as a
woman… it was strong and it just got stronger
and better. I just grew cause I was grown up. To
me I felt like I blossomed... - Alison
I’m very, very, very strong. Because you know,
everybody goes through stuff but some people
go through worse things and some people don’t
And me, hearing what other people’s experience and what I’ve gone through, I know that
I’m very strong because some people let it get
a hold of them as their future and I have been
able to just brush it off and not let it take a hold
of me, I’m living my life. – Jessica
I learned that I’ve always had the will and the
power to do something and be somebody but I
just couldn’t find it, but now I’ve found it. - Isabella
I learned that there are so many girls who go
through so much in this world and it takes a
strong person to get through a lot of things
that they go through, so I learned that I’m
stronger than I thought I was as far as when
I was younger and I was getting into a lot of
things. - Yvette
>>
Survivors need the
opportunity to impact
others & make a difference
As girls developed a strong sense of their own strength and
resilience, they began to view themselves as survivors who
could have an impact on others and on the world around
them. They needed concrete and authentic opportunities
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to put their new-found sense of
leadership into practice. There were
myriad ways that the girls interviewed
felt that they had made an impact,
from outreach and peer counseling to
advocacy and public education.
All of the girls felt that they had been
able to utilize their leadership skills in
supporting or educating one of their
peers:
I mean, there was
one time where one of the
girls was really, really, really upset about a certain
situation and I decided to
stand up and talk to her
throughout the group and
made her feel comfortable
and understanding, and
help her try to find other
ways into handling her situation. And she took my
advice and went on and
did it and you know, actually was overcoming the
situation. It made me feel
good, like I love helping
people. GEMS and other
people have helped me and
it made me feel good and
I like helping other people
as much as I can. It makes
me feel better as a person.
– Isabella
One time we was
having a group about sex,
like sexual behavior and
whatever, and one of the
girls, she was like she
didn’t care if her man was
dating somebody else, like
having sex with somebody
else…I told her, well do you
understand that you could
get something from her
cause even though they’re using a condom…so
like a bubble went up over her head and she
understood, it was kind of cool. It made me confident that even though sometimes I feel that I
don’t know much, I do know a lot. – Jessica
I’ve supported various members at different times, that’s why I’m here at GEMS, and
you know, everybody has a different level of
recovery. Some girls are still in the game and
some girls have been out of the game for a long
time, but at the same time we still go through
the same every day issues. So just given the
fact that I’ve moved all my life and I’ve been out
of the game for a long time, but I can definitely
give inside advice and help girls you know, in
different areas of their life - Hannah
I always end up being the one to sit and
talk to them and call different programs and see
what’s available and how can we get in there,
and what’s our way of working about it, and
what can we do, and you know, always helping
them and making them feel good about themselves and letting them know, “you know this
is not the end, this is just the beginning.” Like
this is not where you’re life is gonna end, this
basically the start of a new, turning a new leaf
over and starting something new and trying to
make yourself better. - Isabella
Okay, for example, no names given, one
of the girls, one of the members she got very
upset one day and said something, something
pertaining to doing it again, you know, going
back to the life. Basically me and a few other
members of GEMS sat with her and spoke with
her. Basically we told her that that’s a bad idea,
you know, that she’s worth more than that, that
take it one step at a time that everybody been
there where she’s at, you know, so just take it
one step at a time and achieve everything you
want to do in life…- Simone
It just helped me help other people. It
helped me want to help other people because
at one point I felt like the world was gonna end,
like I couldn’t be nobody because of stuff I did.
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And I want people to understand that it’s not the
end, you can do whatever
you want, and even though
society might see you one
way, we at GEMS see you
another way. It [GEMS]
helped me to leave the life,
go outside and be proud of
who I am. - Jessica
Some of the young women spoke
of the power of utilizing their
experiences in educating others
on the issue of commercial sexual
exploitation:
When I was at___
________ University and
I was talking there and
everything, they didn’t
even know that that stuff
was happening here. When
I told them they were
making faces like, wow
it wasn’t just happening
across the water somewhere. It felt good to, you
know, open peoples eyes
to this thing that is happening here. – Anna
Going to Albany
was a great experience
because I was able to
talk about everything I’ve
learned and been through
and try and get others to
understand why sexual
exploitation is a real problem. – Holly
Far from feeling too damaged to
support and educate others, the
young women felt empowered by
helping and teaching their peers,
legislators, and the general public.
They felt that their experiences and
stories were valuable tools that equipped them to make an
impact on those around them. One young woman spoke of
learning how to share her experiences in a healthy way:
One specific skill I learned is that even though
you been through what you been through …you
have to be able to learn to talk about your story
in a way where it doesn’t affect you personally,
like traumatizing yourself all over again you
know. But at the same time it’s good to tap into
certain feelings and emotions because it is real,
and it’s a real issue and it did happen to me, but
at the same time you can’t tap into every single
emotion. – Hannah
The concept of survivor leadership was reinforced by their
participation in a survivor-led program where they could
clearly see survivors in authentic leadership roles:
Like going upstate, go with Rachel on trips, like
public speaking, like if we could just go to one,
that kind of empowers us to see our director up
there you know, speaking about something that
we’ve all been involved in…- Patrice
The girls also talked about their youth employment
experiences at GEMS, particularly in providing outreach and
facilitating workshops to at-risk girls in facilities:
Outreach has been a great experience,
I’ve met so many different young females and
I’ve been, and that’s like my passion, to help the
girls go through what they’re going through as
peacefully as possible, and when they can talk
to me and share their feelings with me it just
makes me feel very like, it makes me feel good
that I know they feel better after they speak to
me.– Yvette
I do see myself as a leader. I mean basically because now that I do outreach I go out
and go to different ACS’ and I talk and try to
prevent girls who are at risk or whatever. I feel
like that’s a leadership role, and if you don’t
have it in you to be a leader then you can’t do
that, because if you so busy like trying to follow
somebody else, how can you go and try to see
somebody else through that that at that point
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is still following other
people? You can’t. - Isabella
I started…running
the art group myself for a
few months and I feel like
that helped a lot of girls
express themselves cause
I told them they didn’t
have to draw everything
perfectly, they didn’t have
to do everything perfect,
just you know, show how
you feel. And a lot of girls
started really getting into
it, started getting really
creative with it, and I feel
like that was my impact,
they started opening up
more. – Yvette
.
Conclusion
Programming for commercially sexually exploited and
domestically trafficked children and youth must move
beyond the framework of crisis care and adopt the lessons
that we have learned from the larger youth development
movement. All children and youth need and deserve
the opportunity to be viewed from a strengths-based
perspective, to be provided with the space and opportunity
to develop concrete skills and abilities and to be empowered
to engage in authentic leadership roles.
The active participation of youth is essential to reenergizing and sustaining the civic spirit of communities.
Through skills development in the areas of collaboration
and leadership, and the application of these capacities
to meaningful roles in the community, youth can play
a fundamental role in addressing the social issues that
are destined to impact their lives and those of future
generations. (Kothari, 1996 as quoted from Hancock, 1994,
p.141)
Not only is the larger CSEC movement richer and better
informed by ensuring that survivors are an integral part of
advocacy, education, programming and peer support, the
young women themselves are continuously empowered
through their ability to inspire and support others. Creating
real opportunities for youth leadership for CSEC survivors is
vital for their ongoing growth and development and critical
for the field to move forward.
An important lesson is that youth leadership looks different
for different people. For some it may be public speaking, for
others it may be the opportunity to serve as a ‘big sister’
to other girls in the program, yet others may want to make
an impact through sharing their creative talents, therefore
there must be multiple avenues and opportunities for girls
and young women to share their skills and knowledge and to
experience concrete ways of ‘making a difference’.
It’s also important to note that many of the avenues for
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‘making a difference’ were paid
positions that provided viable
economic opportunities for young
women to practice and develop their
leadership skills. This taught the
young women that their time and
talents were valued and should be
compensated and supported them in
developing economic independence.
Youth survivors also need to see
other survivors in leadership roles.
Seeing their peers in leadership
positions creates a healthy form
of peer-pressure and provides
support to young women. It’s critical
that youth see adult survivors in
leadership roles, particularly in
programs that are designed to serve
them. The leadership of survivors
in the fight against commercial
sexual exploitation in the US is
unquestionable. In addition to GEMS,
survivor-led programs across the
country have been leading the way
in services, advocacy and training for
many years including the pioneering
SAGE in San Francisco and Breaking
Free in Minnesota and Dignity House
in Arizona and newer programs such
as Veronica’s Voice in Kansas.
Clearly survivors are able to take on
leadership roles and excel in them.
However we must not simply limit the
role of CSEC survivors to only being
in ‘the field’. As a survivor-leader, my
hope is to see youth survivor-leaders
go on to achieve in the field of politics,
arts, science and business; anywhere,
in fact, they choose. Empowering
youth survivors with knowledge, skills
and self-confidence and supporting
opportunities for them to put
their skills into action ensures that
youth survivors are equipped with
transferrable skills for a competitive
economy and the confidence to
participate and thrive in our society.
In creating safe and non-judgmental places for them to
grow and heal, in building their knowledge and skills and
supporting them in asserting themselves and developing
healthy relationships, empowering them to develop their
confidence and self-worth and discover their inherent
strength and resilience and in ensuring that there are
multiple, authentic avenues for making a difference in the
world, we are able to address their final and perhaps most
critical need:
>>
Survivors need the opportunity to move forward
The ability to conceive of a healthy, bright, fulfilling future
for yourself impacts not only your present but how you view
your past. For girls and young women who have experienced
such immense trauma and pain, for whom a happy and
healthy future seemed an impossibility, the need to be able
to envision themselves moving forward, creating a new life,
accomplishing and achieving, loving and being loved, being
an important part of the world and making an impact on
that world is so vitally important and an indication of real
healing and recovery.
In five years…
…in college trying to become a social worker,
- Isabella
In 5 years, if I’m still a part of GEMS, I’d like to
be a full time staff. But if not I would still like to
be helping girls out, maybe run a group or just
be here to be supportive in some way and show
my face once in a while….- Emme
In 5 years I’m going to have my bachelor’s
degree, in what I do not know, but I have a feeling it’s going to be somewhere in sociology, or
social work…. – Hannah
I see myself, 5 years, I’m working on my masters in 5 years and I’m in a positive period of
my life, probably have a relationship, a long
term relationship, and have my own house, and
be working, most likely here….- Jessica
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Five years, hopefully
I’ll have my associates
degree or probably bachelors, it depends on if
I switch, working for a
non-for-profit program,
similar to this if not this
one, working with people
in care, in ACS care or just
girls that’s been through
the same thing I went
through. – Simone
Although many of the young women
did seem themselves taking a
leadership role in the non-profit field
and continuing to support other
young women who had experienced
commercial sexual exploitation and
trafficking, others had different
leadership goals:
in construction and I want the girls to see me
in my construction outfit, and whatever, I’m
like, I’m a person who went through GEMS, like
you know, anybody can go through this and you
could turn out just like me. – Patrice
If young women and girls who have experienced
unimaginable trauma can view themselves and their futures
as full of promise and potential, it is incumbent upon us to
not set limits upon them or their leadership abilities and to
provide the safety, support and opportunities to help them
realize their inherent strength and value.
Just to stand proud and not to care what the
society thinks because we know who we are.
And if everything was gravy, if everything was
great we know we would not have gone out
there and done the stuff we did. It was because
it was a reaction to the situation we were in,
and GEMS gave me all of this stuff that I have
in my brain. That it’s okay, that life is not going
end, that I can be whatever I want, I can be the
president if I want. – Jessica
I see myself still working.
I’m a mother so my daughter would be in school so I
see myself being a better
mom, you know, and probably finishing my bachelor’s in art. - Alison
Being a photographer
somewhere that’s not
here, [New York]…- Anna
Honestly, in 5 years I will
want Rachel to come to
me and ask me to come
speak to the girls. That
would mean a lot to me. I
see myself probably working at a good job, I see
myself even being in the
construction field…And so
yes, I want Rachel to bring
me back because I’ll probably be working at Con
Edison or a good company
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Appendix A
Interview Questions for GEMS Participants
*Note: where _____ is, insert the name of the leadership program the interviewee participated in.
Background Questions:
How old are you?
How long have you been coming to
GEMS?
General Questions:
What does leadership mean to you?
What was the pathway you took at
GEMS to develop and refine your
leadership skills? For example, you
might have started in the Youth
Leadership Group, then got involved in
Media, and later on worked your way
up to a fellowship.
What was your experience like in _____
_(each of these programs)?
What qualities do you think are
important in a leader?
How comfortable were you
participating in ____? Could you be
yourself? Why or why not?
What messages about leadership do
you think GEMS conveys to girls who
participate in the program? How are
these messages conveyed? Did these
messages resonate with you?
How long were you involved in ____?
How often did you attend? If you
stopped attending, why?
What leadership skills have you
learned through GEMS?
Before participating in GEMS
leadership programs, did you consider
yourself a role model/leader? Why or
why not?
Leadership Programs*
(Research tip: if the interviewee has
participated in many different programs,
run through the list of questions in this
section addressing one program at a time)
What leadership programs have you
participated in? (Advocacy, Media,
Youth Leadership Groups, Albany
trips, Outreach, Fellowships/Youth
Employment) Can you describe them?
What did you learn about leadership as
a result of participating in _____(these
programs)?
What did you learn about yourself?
About others?
Was _____(this program) helpful to
you? Why or why not?
Was there a specific time or situation
in ____ where you think you made a
real impact? What was it like?
What specific skills did you develop by
participating in ____(these programs)?
Why are they important for a CSEC
survivor to have?
Do you see yourself as a leader/role
model now (since you started coming
to _________)? Why or why not? If yes,
in what ways?
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Interview Questions for GEMS Participants
Based on your experience in ____,
would you recommend joining ___
for girls who are new to GEMS? What
advice or suggestions would you give
them?
Concluding Questions
In your opinion, are leadership
programs an integral part of the GEMS
experience? Why or why not?
What would you change about _____
(these programs) if you could (i.e,
things you might add or do away
with)? Why?
Since coming to GEMS, where do you
see yourself in 5 years? Do you think
that participating in ___ will help you
reach these goals? Why or why not?
What type of leadership programs
would you like to see GEMS offer in
the future? How would this type of
program be helpful?
Lastly, is there anything you think I
should know about leadership training
at GEMS, or your experience, that I
haven’t asked about?
Applying Leadership Skills
Overall, how would sum up your
experience at GEMS?
How will the leadership skills you
learned at GEMS help you in the
fight against the commercial sexual
exploitation of youth?
Can you think of a situation at GEMS
where you were able to apply the
leadership skills you learned to
support another girl or resolve a
conflict? If yes, can you describe how
these skills helped you navigate the
situation?
Can you talk about other areas of
your life where the leadership skills
you’ve developed at GEMS can or
will help you achieve a goal or be
more effective? (i.e., work, school,
relationships with friends/family,
parenting, etc.)
Are there places besides GEMS where
you feel you’ve been able to develop
your leadership skills or take a
leadership role? Can you tell me about
them?
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Appendix B
About GEMS Programming
GEMS provides a spectrum of
continuous and comprehensive
services to address young women’s
needs and to provide long-term,
consistent support throughout young
women’s transition and development.
The service continuum begins with
Prevention and Outreach, initially
identifying victims and ensuring they
are aware of service options. This
takes place through both Street
Outreach provided three nights per
week to known prostitution locations
in New York City and Facility Outreach
conducted by former GEMS members
weekly at six juvenile detention
facilities, group homes and residential
centers. Facility outreach also serves
the purpose of potentially preventing
commercial sexual exploitation
through a peer-led education model
that raises awareness amongst
high risk youth about the realities
of the sex industry. In addition to
the outreach team, a current GEMS
member creates a newsletter for
girls in facilities, with articles written
by current members and girls in the
facilities.
The second stage of the continuum
consists of Direct Intervention with
sexually exploited young women
and covers a vast range of services
including GEMS Court Advocacy
and Alternative to Incarceration/
Detention programming, Supportive
Service Program including mental
health assessment, counseling, health
care, psychiatric care, goal planning,
acquiring identification or benefits,
assistance with educational needs,
family intervention and assistance in obtaining employment.
GEMS Court Advocacy Coordinators provide advocacy for
girls in the Family Court and Criminal Court systems as well
as provide supportive services.
Housing is also a vital part of direct services to sexually
exploited youth, the vast majority of whom are runaways
and homeless, therefore GEMS’ Transitional Indepenent
Living Program provides housing (up to 18 months) for
young women ages 16-21 who meet specific criteria.
GEMS Youth Development programming addresses
young women’s developmental, social and emotional
needs through strengths based programming and a firm
commitment to youth empowerment. This component
of the program provides Recreational, Educational and
Therapeutic Groups including health education, poetry,
art therapy, creative writing, grief and loss therapy,yoga
and relaxation, healing and recovery, cooking and drama
to build young women’s creative expression and sense of
community. Members meet to provide staff with ideas about
the kinds of groups they would like to see offered and as
a result the groups offered change each semester. The
Youth Leadership Program trains young women on the
issue of sexual exploitation, domestic violence and youth
incarceration and equips them with public speaking, peer
counseling, organizing and advocacy skills. Youth Leaders
are afforded multiple opportunities to develop their skills
through outreach, public speaking events, advocacy, and
media work. The Educational Initiatives Program provides
incentives for members who take the next step in their
education, including registering for a GED, high school,
college or vocational program, and completing semesters
and graduating. GEMS offers on-site tutoring and college
bound clinics to support members.
GEMS recognizes that addressing the issue of sexual
exploitation in a vacuum will not suffice. Providing direct
services to sexually exploited youth through this continuum
is vital, but insufficient. Commercial sexual exploitation
is intrinsically linked to racism, poverty, gender–based
violence, and the criminalization of youth. All these factors
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>>FROM VICTIM TO SURVIVOR, FROM SURVIVOR TO LEADER:>>
must be an integral part of any
discussion, advocacy work or direct
service programming that involves
sexual exploitation. Clearly, tackling
these huge social justice issues is a
daunting task, yet imperative. GEMS
builds on its work providing services
through changing public perception
and the laws that affect sexually
exploited youth. The final step in truly
addressing sexual exploitation must
change current policies and laws that
criminalize sexually exploited youth
and begin the work of social change
by treating them, by law, all as victims.
Local & National
Advocacy
Changing public perception is vital
to affecting change in the lives of
at risk young women in New York
City. Therefore, GEMS has been
in the forefront of advocacy and
public education of the issue of
sexual exploitation against children.
GEMS worked with the Correctional
Association’s Juvenile Justice
Coalition to introduce the Safe Harbor
Act into New York State legislation.
The Safe Harbor Act would remedy
the contradiction in the current penal
code between a ‘child prostitute’ and
a victim of statutory rape. The new
law would make it impossible for
young people under the age of 16 to
be charged with an act of prostitution,
treating the young women instead
as victims and providing them with
emergency and long-term services
they need to exit ‘the life’. The bill,
was sponsored by both democratic
and republican leaders and garnered
widespread bi-partisan support.
In 2006 and 2007, the bill was
introduced in both Senate and the
Assembly. Much of this support was
generated after a compelling GEMSsponsored legislative briefing was
presented by GEMS youth leaders. Although the bill was
blocked in both 2006 and 2007, youth leaders along with
the support of GEMS staff was successful in changing
the perception of children and sexual exploitation, many
legislators who had previously been opposed to the bill
joined as co-sponsors after hearing the young women’s
compelling testimonies. The Act was reintroduced in 2008.
In 2006, GEMS lobbied for and won legislative and mayoral
recognition of April 20th as the New York State Day to End
Child Sexual Exploitation, the first such acknowledgement
in the country. In 2008, GEMS celebrates the Third Annual
END CSEC Day with the presentation of this white paper and
a screening of Very Young Girls in addition to a Rally at City
Hall.
Public Education
In addition to advocacy and organizing work, GEMS
increases public awareness and understanding by providing
seminars and trainings for social service providers, clergy,
law enforcement officers and concerned members of the
public. Trainings and workshops are designed to: bring
a human face to issues of sexual exploitation; address
stereotypes of the young women involved; train youth
workers in creating effective, gender-specific programming;
assist service providers and professionals who come into
contact with at risk youth in identifying signs of exploitation,
intervening effectively with ‘hard-to-reach’ clients, and
assist young women in transition from ‘the life’. Recipients
of such trainings include Administration for Children’s
Services, Office of Children and Family Services, University
of Illinois Law School, New York Foundling, Covenant
House, Kings County Child Psychiatric Unit, John Hopkins
University, Youth Advocates Program International, Mount
Sinai Adolescent Health Center, University of California, The
Salvation Army, Jewish Child Care Association, the NYC
Department of Probation, and Legal Aid Juvenile Rights
Division.
For more information about GEMS
Visit our website: www.gems-girls.org
Contact us at: info@gems-girls.org
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